An Odd Encounter
by TheQuillFox
Summary: When love is extinguished, it tends to spring back in the most unexpected of ways and in the most unexpected places...


Chapter 1

There's Something About Mar—Sissy.

_H-how could he… I can't believe… Wh-why would he say…? _

Staggering down the hallways of Kadic Academy, the previous scene kept running through Sissy's reeling mind. She could still hear Ulrich Stern's voice, hurling those words at her like poison darts. And, just like poison darts, they were slowly doing damage, hurting more and more as the seconds turned into minutes and she found herself up against a wall, no longer able to support herself.

_I don't like you! I can't even STAND you! For God's sake, just leave me __ALONE!_

And, as she slid to the ground, her tears burst forth and she began to weep. Alone in the hall, Sissy hugged her knees to her chest and the tears came faster and louder, until…

Odd Della-Robbia was having the time of his life. Being one of the two only creatures on earth who could enjoy _Break-Break-Break Dance _5 times in a row, Odd danced happily in his dorm. With Kiwi hopping around his feet, he couldn't believe the luck he and his roommate came across earlier in the day.

It started with a note that the two of them found after coming back from the cafeteria. They found it half slid under the door with Ulrich's name on the front of the envelope. After a small fight, Odd opened it up and began to read it aloud as his roommate sat on the bed adjacent to him.

"To my dearest love,

For so long I have hidden my true feelings from you. You may have guessed, however I doubt you understand how deep these feelings go; just how much I care and love for you. However, this letter is not the way I wish to convey my love; meet me in the boiler room and I shall speak to you there.

Signed,

Your Truest Love."

Odd's first reaction was an obvious one: Teasing and joking. After a death glare from Ulrich, he finished and gave the subject of the letter his real opinion.

"Dude, it's gotta be Yumi." Sitting next to his best friend, Odd started to prod Ulrich with his elbow. "I mean, think about it; who else would go through all this just to keep her identity secret like this? Yumi's the only one who likes you, but doesn't want to admit it openly." Such a deep, straight to the heart statement took Ulrich by surprise; he didn't realize that his friend had thought so much on the subject. After that, it didn't take much longer for Odd to convince Ulrich to head to the boiler room to confront the sender of the letter.

So, there he was, dancing with his dog and having the time of his life. Reaching out to turn the stereo off, Odd fell onto his bed with Kiwi jumping onto his chest as he did. Patting the loyal canine, the thought that life just doesn't get any better than this ran through his head.

_Sniff…._

"What the…?" Odd sat up slowly, as to not startle Kiwi. Looking around, he tried to ascertain the source of the strange noise he heard. It had been quiet, muffled sounding; as if someone was…

Walking to his door, he pressed his ear against it and strained to see if he could hear any noises in the hall. And he did.

"Whoa…" Odd whispered to himself, listening to the sobbing of someone, seemingly right outside his dorm. With the music off, he could hear her (he was sure it was a girl) quite clearly. Taking a breath and telling Kiwi to get back inside his drawer, he easily slid the drawer shut and opened the door.

It wasn't as if she couldn't stop the tears. It was that she didn't want to. Sissy wanted to cry, she wanted to release her anger and sadness all at once, and at this point she didn't care where she was or who saw her, if anyone did or would.

Well, almost anyone.

"Um…" Was all she heard, between breaths, and she raised her head to see the one person in the world (aside from Ulrich, of course) she didn't want catching her in this state. Blinking, she tried to catch her breath as Odd stared at her. Sissy almost cursed, her face turning a bright scarlet, more from embarrassment now than her crying. After what happened with Ulrich, she didn't know if she could deal with joke, or worse, a sarcastic comment from the class clown standing before her. She braced herself when his mouth opened, and….

"Um… you wanna come in?" Trying hard to mask her surprise, Sissy just stared at Odd. His hand was extended to her, and though his tone told her he was as uncomfortable as she was, the look on his face was different.

_Is he… worried about me?_ Sissy thought as she silently took his hand and stood, allowing herself to be lead into his dorm. She heard the door shut behind her and Odd appeared again, motioning to the bed. Taking a seat there, she looked around, trying to take stock. She noticed the bed across from the one she sat on was neatly made, as neat as the rest of that side of the room. That was probably Ulrich's side, she told herself, and the thought of him brought fresh tears to her eyes and she slowly lowered her head into her hands once again.

_I don't like you! I can't even STAND you! For God's sa—_

"Hey." Odd's voice was soft, and Sissy looked up again. "Here." Was all he said, handing her a tissue box. Taking it, she wiped her eyes and thanked him. The silence that followed hung heavy and thick in the air, with both of them trying hard not to look at the other.

"You… ya know, wanna talk about it?" asked Odd, about a minute later. Sissy found him sitting next to her on the bed, looking in her direction with the same look on his face he had out in the hall. She almost couldn't believe it, it seemed like he was really worried about her! She had always thought he couldn't stand her, and yet now there she was, preparing to tell him about the most embarrassing moment in her life.

She spoke at length about it. She told him about the letter, waiting down in the boiler room and about how, after she confessed her feelings for him, Ulrich suddenly flew into a rage, rejecting her feelings and yelling at her to never speak to him again. The story was peppered by hiccups and sniffles, Sissy wasn't ready to talk about it without tears streaming again, but she managed to finish. She had gone through half of the tissue box, though it seemed as if Odd didn't care. He sat in silence, and Sissy found herself actually wondering what he would say.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. And then, without a word, he leaned forward and hugged her.

"O-Odd?" Sissy was in shock. Her first impulse told her to throw him off and yell at him, yet…

She couldn't. His warm embrace said volumes more than anything that could've come from his mouth. It was comforting, and she couldn't help but start crying again. She laid her head into his shoulder and sobbed quietly for a few minutes, Odd doing nothing but patting her back and holding her. When she pulled away, she wiped her eyes quickly and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

"Thanks." She told him, sheepishly. He smiled in reply, chuckling slightly.

"Don't mention it." He told her in his easy-going way. "Coming from a family like mine, you learn that sometimes, all you need is a good cry and a hug." He winked, grinning. "But now, you look water-logged!" Unable to help herself, Sissy laughed. It wasn't her usual conceited snigger or bullyish laugh; it was soft and pleasant, a happy sound. Odd grinned at this, nudging her with his elbow.

"Don't worry though, I won't tell a soul. And, my silence comes free of charge this time." Sissy nodded, smiling and glad that no one would know about it. Her eyes wandering around the room, she sighed heavily. It was insane to think of the situation she was in, but she didn't think that. All she thought, the only thing that ran through her mind, was that Odd…

_Maybe he's not so bad, after all. _She smiled again at this, shaking her head. What was she thinking? This was Odd Della-Robbia, the skinny doofus who made it his mission in life to make hers a living nightmare. And yet, she found herself preferring his company at the moment to anyone else's in the whole campus. Turning her head, she decided to tell him just that.

And realized that Odd was looking right at her. For a split second, their eyes met and Sissy felt her heart skip a beat. And, with both their faces turning beat red, the two teens jumped off of Odd's bed, stammering embarrassedly.

"Uh…um…" Odd eloquently said, "You know, Jim's always patrolling the hallways…."

"Y-yeah…" Sissy moved to the door. "And Ulrich might be back soon. I should go." Just as she was opening it, however, she stopped and looked back.

"Something wrong?" Odd asked, cocking an eyebrow and tilting his head. Giggling slightly, Sissy moved toward him.

"I thought I saw something before, but now I know I do." Her hands went to the collar of his shirt, rubbing it slightly. "I think I see something on your shirt. Might just be a tearstain, though." Odd groaned as Sissy moved closer to see better. "Just give me a second…"

"Aw, don't worry about it." He rolled his eyes. "I feel like my mom's getting me ready for sch-!"

The young woman left a single kiss on Odd's cheek, causing the blood to rush back to his face. Giggling again, Sissy moved back to the door.

"Thank you. Really, what you did meant so much to me." And, as she left, Odd's hand unconsciously found the spot on his cheek where her lips where.

_Wait…what the hell just happened?_


End file.
